#Doing these for a ref before my main piece

[daeyumi]

au Ganondorf 🪷

ngl i am Very proud of his design

[ramblingsofafanatic]

[badgertracksart]

Portfolio advice, from a lead who hires Concept Artists

(This was originally a twitter thread I wrote before the site self imolated, hense it's strange structure.) I wrote this after a weekend of portfolio reviews - 1. Like a maths exam, please please show your working. I want to see thumbs options, mid options and of course a final design.

2. Arrange your portfolio, I don't want to bounce about between subject matter and pipeline. Your portfolio's narrative should be as strong as your work... 3. Please make worlds that excite the viewer, make them want to go in and explore them, explain to them the interesting parts of the town, or the way the character's hat unfolds. How will this draw the viewer in? 4. As I've said before the majority of your project work is explanatory not mood, make sure your portfolio contains explanatory work. Explained here -

5. A lot of beautiful post apocolyptic paintings, , but 80% of realistic games and film, we just give the environment artists photo ref, they are capable artists in their own right. Different work in stylised where you do need to create rules for how things can be translated. 6. Production art contains call out sheets, material references and flat graphics. This doesn't have to be your final image, but it should support it.

7. Design characters on a swatch(es) of the environment they will be viewed in. Not on white. I make swatch backgrounds from screenshots, it avoids assumptions that damage readability. 8. Reverse of this, put people in your environments, show me the scale.

9. It's not a deal breaker for a review, but if you intend to get a job, please show me your work on a screen larger than a smartphone (print outs probably the cheapest option with the best battery life). 10. Please have your contact details clearly visible, and by that I mean email address, I will not pass your social media contact on, I cannot input your form into my tracking system. EMAIL ADDRESS emblazoned and bake it in, sometimes recruiters do funky stuff to pdfs

11. Your portfolio will never feel done, not to you anyway. You will have learnt from your latest pieces and want to apply it to older work. But we know art is a journey. Send your portfolio anyway. I've been in the industry 10+ years and my portfolio is still not 'finished'. 12. If you are applying to an environment centric Concept Art position then please vary your times of day! Golden hour is cool but show me some happy sunny days, looming overcast days, what about at night? Vary your weather too! Sunny snowy day? Rainy Spring day? Stormy night?

13. If you are applying for a character centric Concept Art role then please ensure your portfolio shows a variety of body types and ethnicities. 14. Designing characters for games? Please show back views and feet (!) Many potfolios contain only front views. This is a problem because:

You haven't shown you are considering the design from all angles.

In many games rear view is the main view.

Stop cropping feet.

15. If you are entry / graduating and looking at Portfolios to compare content and standard of yr own work too, look at hired grad/junior artists as opposed to seniors Seniors and leads often have old or personal work in their portfolio which isnt representative of the day job. 16a. Show clearly the intended use case for your Concept Art. Mention the game type in the description. Are these player character designs for a 3rd person adventure game? Then more back views please. Bonus points for diagetic ways of showing health / equipment / role etc.

16b. Are these designs for an FPS? Then really the player view of the gun needs to sell the player style/ choices, in an FPS your weapons are almost your character. Are these world designs? What's the view distance? For an RTS your shapes need to read from above & a distance. 16c. The lack of clarification means I am judging the design in isolation, which both harms the design (you might be considering the backview of a char as the main adventure character.) Or an NPC, their waist up expressions may be important for conveying exposition and mechanics.

16d. Concept art is not separate from gameplay, great concept art serves the game team before it is a good illustration.

17. Play games. A variety of games. Think about them. IMO to be a good concept artist you need to understand the common language & references used by your peers. Also understand the principles and common language your audience are used to. FPS design rules are v.diff from RTS.

18. There are many skills that are needed in concept art, please show them. For example: Graphic design - logos, liveries, typographic use etc. VFX concepts - Abilities, Ambience, motion concepts. Architectural knowledge - How buildings are built! & more but I'm out of space :O

[thegreatimpersonator]

Heeey, if u dont wanna answer this that's fine! But just wondering what's Travis done? (Im not a fan or anything lol, legit curious). Now that i think about it, i think he's irl friends (like, outside of work) with that mahommes guy whose brother... well, trigerring topic but ye his brother's a piece of shit and that guy's wife im pretty sure defended the brother + is a trumpie💀. But i dont follow them/usamerican football so ive just heard about these things casually. I think there were also some weird tweets from years back? Guess i answered my own question lol. Wild the kcc also have that "women should stay home" at a uni graduation speech guy...

welcome to the materpost.

im making this so i can always have something to refer back to when people ask, and this isnt gonna include personal opinions as facts (like how i just find him very attention-seeking and annoying, that's just personal opinion) but it will cover all the main terrible things he's done as well as the bad stuff people he (and now taylor) voluntarily choose to associate with.

don't know where to begin so i'll just start from where i remember

people found his old tweets where he was ableist (making fun of autism and saying the r slur), fatphobic towards women, misogynistic and homophobic.

him along with the chiefs decided to visit trump at the white house in 2020, after many teams declined bc they didnt want to publicly associate with a fascist, but travis was down!

he then also got caught liking an instagram post about trump

he has said recently he would be going to visit trump again in the white house if they win the superbowl.

when asked about how he felt about Trump going to the Super Bowl and playing in front of him, he said it was “pretty cool” and “an honor”.

he also made a r*pe joke, (first part in the clip) he was asked what word turned him on and he said when women say 'no' and then laughed and he was "kidding".

in the second part of that same clip in the previous bullet point, he's also xenophobic! on a podcast he said "if you dont speak english, then what are you doing here (in america)" and then proceeded to laugh when the host says he tells them the wrong directions on purpose.

he also 'jokingly' (no one laughed) called women "breeders" when discussing what women he was interested in.

he, alongside the chiefs, stood in solidarity with Israel by doing a ‘moment of silence’ before a game. i know people are gonna try and find excuses for him by saying ‘he was just doing what his team did, what was he supposed to do, etc’ nonsense, but that implies he was forced and had no choice; which he did. he also could have spoken up about the genocide/palestine afterwards but he stood in solidarity with Israel and has silent ever since.

he has a history of violent temper tantrums, and no him being a football player isnt an excuse. men using violence to get through their emotions isnt something to be normalized. he has had multiple instances of extreme aggression, including a screaming match with his couch at last years Superbowl, screamed at a ref and threw his helmet, also punching his own teammate during practice, and punching opposing players during games.

he's best friends with machine gun kelly, they grew up together and have remained close to this day. MGK has been openly racist, misogynistic, has said he sees nothing wrong with sleeping with minors, etc.

he defended his teammate, harrison butker (who was the guy who gave the viral problematic commencement speech, saying "women should be most excited about their marriage and the children they will bring into this world" and "things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder,” and called Pride Month “the deadly sin sort of pride,” and specifically criticized the LGBTQ community, which he claimed promotes “dangerous gender ideologies.").... anyway travis defended THAT guy, saying he cherishes him as a teammate and said "he is every bit of a great person and a great teammate." and said harrison treats everyone with "nothing but respect and kindness, we’re not always going to agree … but I understand the person that he is and he’s trying to do whatever he can to lead people in the right direction." Travis then said 'everyone has different opinions and that's what's great about this country'. he flat out said hating gay people and women are what make this country great.  

travis is also besties with known racist, morgan wallen (who got caught saying the n word, promised to donate money to charities fighting for racial justice and then just didnt), and joined him on stage last august. oh and travis was also wearing a harrison butker jersey during the concert... supporting him once again, just 3 months after his bigoted speech.

travis is also besties with the mahomes, now lets talk about him and taylors new besties they voluntarily love spending time with.

the main issue isnt really patrick mahomes (another player on the chiefs), it's brittany (his wife) and jackson (his brother)

jackson sexually assaulted a woman at a restaurant by grabbing her and forcibly kissing her. she reported the assault and he reportedly tried to bribe her into shutting up, but then she faced such harassment from his fans that the restaurant shut down and the case was dismissed despite video evidence of it happening.

brittany defended jackson and became a vocal assault apologist by saying "he is a human just trying to live his life and find his way and until you walk a day in his shoes (which no one ever will) you have no right to say shit about him".

last summer, brittany got called out for liking a post by trump where he outlined his plans for being president in 2025, including starting the largest deportation operation in history, zionist propaganda, and transphobic rhetoric about not wanting trans women in women's sports. she then defended it and doubled down vocalizing her supprt for trump.

brittany being transphobic about not wanting trans women in women's sports is deeply concerning due to the fact she is the co-owner of Kansas City Current, a team in the American professional top-division National Women's Soccer League.

[bijouxcarys]

Peace of Mind, Piece of Mine (Roman Reigns x fem!Reader)

Masterlist WWE Masterlist

Description: It's not often the Tribal Chief willingly allows someone else to take the reins. But when he does, it's nothing but sublime. Set immediately following the main event of WrestleMania 41 Night 1.

CW: NSFW, minors do not interact, smut, dirty talk, comfort sex, unprotected sex, oral (f recieving), slightly submissive!Roman, slightly dominant!Reader.

Words: 2.2k

Title inspo: FE!N by Travis Scott, Playboi Carti (x)

Tags: @expert-texpert @thefairyloveschaos @haloreigns @teamchasez @reignsxlove @eringobragh420

@thealliasylum @electronicwitchsandwich @haloreigns @reignsnblack

(If you would like to be tagged in any future fics, please let me know!)

April 19th, 2025

Stupid.

That’s how I felt.

Stupid for not noticing the glint in the eye of the Wiseman. For not seeing what was to come. For being so hyper-focused on what Punk might do that I completely missed it.

The catalyst. The enabler. The perpetually burning match. The constant thorn in the Tribal Chief’s side.

Stupid for the anger I could not contain. Refs holding me back as I screeched after that Judas, as I launched the steel chair I’d been sitting on in their direction. 

That was before he came back through the curtains. Before I had to switch modes. I was ready to kill, prepared to take the brunt of the consequences, ready to wreck everyone and leave hand in hand with my Tribal Chief.

But he needed me now.

“Does that feel good, baby?”

His fingertips dug into my hips—I could feel how they itched to take control and rock me how he wanted. But it wasn’t the time for that. It wasn’t the time for taking control. He’d held on to control as long as he could until it hung by a thread. And now the thread had snapped.

He had to let go.

All I had to do was run my fingers through his hair, scratch my nails gently through his beard, leave small butterfly kisses along his raw back, specks of red still remaining from the familiar brutal attack. Like chocolate on a hot day, he just melted into me.

Relinquished all he was, all he tried to be. There wasn’t much left, everyone had taken a piece in their departure, but he gave the rest to me. Because he knew, above all, I would keep it safe in my pocket, keep it close to my chest, cherish it, and return it when the time was right.

“You look so pretty like this,” I hummed gently, admiring how the dim light cast shadows along the column of his throat as his head leaned back on the armchair. “So beautiful…” I added in a whisper, circling my hips on his, flinching as his mushroom tip massaged that sensitive spot deep inside me.

My fingers traced the patterns of his tattoos, feeling the pride of his legacy, the dynasty from which he sprouted. My Tribal Chief, my life and soul, my whole universe.

“K-keep going,” he managed to grunt, his eyebrows knitting together as he fought to lift his head to look at me. A small bruise on his forehead, the bags under his eyes, the sorrow still tugging at his mouth even as it fell open to release a moan or a pant. 

“Just wanna feel better,” he mumbled, leaning up and hiding his face in my chest and wrapping his hulking arms around my body, keeping me pressed flushed to him whilst I rode him in his hotel suite. 

“Shh, I know, baby, I got you…” My hand came round to caress the back of his head. “I got you,” I repeated. “Doesn’t it feel good already, sweetheart?” He nodded, clumsily pushing the neckline of my dress down with his chin. “Good… ‘Cause I can’t get enough of my Tribal Chief…”

At that, his arms tightened around me and his lips wrapped around one of my stiffened nipples, sucking and nibbling as I sped up ever so slightly.

I enveloped him completely with my warmth, both literally and figuratively. Sitting snugly, the entirety of his length filled me to the hilt. My clit, swollen and throbbing just from watching tonight’s match, brushed against him, feeling the coarse hair that trailed down his abdomen.

Reaching behind him, I guided him back to his original position, but his mouth stayed attached, refusing to let me go.

“Ro…”

He released my nipple with a quick kitten lick and angled his head up, meeting my gaze. My heart faltered, fluttering in my chest, at how gorgeous my man was. Even with the alterations he’d made over the years; the reconstructive surgery on his nose after busting it in a brawl with his boss, the veneers that straightened his jaw and brightened his smile even more. The faint freckles you could only spot if you were within close proximity. Full lips. Salt and pepper king.

The most perfect man in the world.

But the more I looked into his eyes at that moment, the more I saw it. The reddening in the whites, the glittering of his waterline. Lower lashes grouping and laying flat. A quiver in his mouth.

“Oh, baby,” I sighed, moving to hold his face in my hands, rippling my body against him, causing him to blink and let out a little grunt, a lone tear rolling down his cheek and onto my right hand as he did.

“Don’t,” he responded through clenched teeth. “Please, just… just take it away.” Swallowing hard, he lowered his hand to grab onto my ass, urging me to lift up and off of his cock, just to bring me right back down and engulf him again.

“I’ll take it away, Ro,” I reassured him, nodding and resting my forehead on his head. “Wanna take it all away from y—fuck, you feel so good,” I moaned, my nails digging into his beard. One hand dropped to his shoulder, tense and bulging with pure muscle. 

He couldn’t stop himself from writhing his own hips, feet planted firmly on the carpet and using them to pivot upwards. “That’s it, baby,” I mumbled against his head, meeting his movements.

“God, you’re perfect,” he groaned, “So fuckin’ perfect for me… takin’ care of me like this…”

The grin was automatic, and I felt my cheeks burn at the praise, despite the fact it was supposed to be the other way round.

“I’m always gonna take care of you, Roman…”

“Yeah?” He sat all the way back, both hands grabbing at my hips, muscles flexing with every motion. 

“Yess… fuuck,” I whined, my head hanging back. “The best…” My eyes fluttered shut. 

“I’m the best?”

“Yeah, you’re the best, baby… never had dick like this. So fucking big,” I smirked, peering down at him through hooded eyelids. “Always making me cum so fucking hard.”

“Damn straight, sweetheart.” For the first time that evening, I saw the glimmer of a smile at the corner of his mouth, but it disappeared as soon as it came and was swiftly replaced with what can only be described as a look of complete ecstasy. Jaw jutting forward, teeth on show, nose scrunched up. 

“It’s all you tonight, baby,” I continued, placing my palms flat on his shoulders and bracing myself. I didn’t fuck about for much longer; I bounced on his lap, milking him for everything he had, everything he wanted to give me.

“All me… Fuck, gimme that shit.”

Biting down on my lips, I groaned low in my chest, purposefully squeezing onto his cock. Lewd noises filled the room, and just by those alone, it seemed there was no limit to how wet this man could make me.

I watched as his pecs pulsed, the veins in his arms stood prominent, and his hair started to frizz endearingly, wildly, giving me the rawest glimpse of the Samoan in his blood.

One would be lucky to have such passion in a partner, bred of the Italians and the Islands.

“Don’t stop—don’t you fuckin’ stop,” he growled, releasing a harsh breath out through his flared nostrils.

“Not gonna stop… not ‘til you cum inside me, Ro, I fucking need it,” I hummed, taking his chin in my hand so he had no choice but to look up at me. I hovered my face over his, our lips parted as we panted into each other’s mouths. “Fucking beautiful, you realise that? Needing to fill me so fucking bad…”

“You keep talkin’ like that, babygirl, I’mma nut all up in this pussy.” 

His filthy words encouraged me, adding more swing to my hips, fucking him so roughly—so passionately—that the armchair we sat in started creaking under us. I swiped my tongue along his open mouth, dipping it beyond the threshold to kiss him fully. Sloppily, loudly, clumsily.

“Mmm, I love you,” he grumbled almost incoherently, grabbing my ass to aid me as I bounced. “You’re so good to me, mama, you ain’t got a clue.”

“Shit, you deserve it, baby,” I answered, my words shaky and stuttering with my movements, each collision of our bodies reverberating in my chest. “You deserve the world, e-everything–fuck, I want you to cum so bad.”

Growling, he smashed his lips back to mine, tongue immediately attacking mine, and his hips thrusting up, chasing a high he so desperately needed in lieu of the one he was denied in the ring tonight. 

“Come on, Ro, take it,” I moaned, “Right in this pussy, do it… take it all.”

“Oh, I am, it’s all mine. You ready, sweetheart?”

“Always ready for you… cum for me, my Tribal Chief.”

His teeth snapped down on my lip, and an animalistic groan erupted from deep down in his chest. Thrusts became inconsistent, muscles twitched, and he did what he promised he would; he gave me every ounce of him, inside and out. 

Didn’t care how messy it became, because it was mine. Ours.

The Tribal Chief wasn’t selfish. He always gave after he took.

That’s why, within five minutes of busting inside me, it was my turn; seated, legs forced open and resting on the chair arms. Frizzy Samoan mane slotted perfectly between my thighs, whilst his mammoth hands pushed them open.

His tongue rolled over my clit, and his head angled up. Doe eyes watching my every response, a smirk appearing as I sank further into the chair.

Lips wrapped around my nub, and he suckled, cheeks moving along with his tongue. He allowed his saliva to coat me completely, messily slurping.

“Ahh fuck, that’s it, baby,” I breathed, reaching down to hold his hair from his face so I could see his undying devotion. He hummed against me in response, flattening his tongue to drag it all the way up from my tight entrance, where I seeped with him, and all the way back to my pearl. Then repeat.

“Such a perfect man.” I arched my back as he went back to assaulting my clit. “You eat this pussy too good.”

“Just wanna make my girl feel like a million dollars, mama…” He pressed a kiss to my inner thigh. “‘Specially after makin’ me nut like that. Gotta make sure this pussy gets eaten. Gotta keep her happy.”

I couldn’t hold back the smile as our eyes met. He was so special. Nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for him.

Nothing in this world he wouldn’t do for me.

“I can assure you, you’re making this girl very very happy, my Tribal Chief,” I whispered, stroking my fingers through his hair before tightening my grip. “Now, get back to it and make me cum, okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” he said through an excited huff before diving right back in. 

He spread me open, explored every inch of me, stimulated and edged me more times than I cared to count. It was obvious by the mischievous glint in his eyes that he enjoyed when my legs began to shake, when my core started throbbing against his tongue, when my moans turned to whimpers, and my whimpers turned to whines.

“Goddamn, I fuckin’ love those sounds,” he spat, yanking me closer to him.

“Don’t stop, what are you doing??” I asked breathlessly. And my heart nearly fucking stopped when he looked up at me with such a determined glare, the aging around his eyes making him look far more brooding than he perhaps intended.

“Ain’t stoppin’, baby, just wanna make sure I get it all when this pretty lil pussy cums all over my fuckin’ face.”

“Fuck,” I gasped, tugging on his hair as he fervently flicked and swirled his tongue around my clit. “Oh shit, shit… right there, fuck I’m gonna cum…”

“Yeah? Right there on that clit, baby?” He sucked on me, and hummed harshly, knowing the vibrations would go straight to my head, would dumb me down and take me out.

Clenching my jaw, I focused on him and his pussy-drunk expression. Our eyes were completely glued to one another. Wide and… innocent.

He looked innocent.

Desperate.

Almost pathetic to a degree.

“You want me to cum for you, baby?” I panted, using the grip I had on his hair to rock his face against me. “C’mon, tell me, Ro, you want me to cum?”

He let out a small sound of struggle as he tried to answer with his mouth magnetised to my cunt, but it was followed by a little grunt that told me everything I needed to know to keep going.

“Mmmph–fuck yeah,” I barely heard.

“Gonna have to do better than that, sweetheart.”

He stopped his licks and sucks, just to snarl back, albeit still with his lips dragging over my drenched folds—thanks to my control over his head.

“Please, mama, I need you to cum. Need this pretty pussy to nut—just wanna make you feel good, please…”

It was more of a ramble, and it gave me great satisfaction to see him beg for my release, to see him work for a single sentence, as sadistic as it was. 

For someone who was so accustomed to being in control, he was so good at giving it away for a moment in time…

Just for a little peace of mind.

[sketchy-tour]

ALRIGHTY! Time to formally reintroduce yall to my silly idiot OC Dandy!

and by that I mean, I redid their ref art, tweaked their bio, and finally made a ref for their stupid pajamas! Wanted to do other fits for them but aa another time. Brain is mashed potatoes.

Anyway, Dandy is my silly WH oc who's main theme is self care/self love messages shown through the imagery of gardening! Meant to be a sort of "garden of the self" sort of deal. They go by ANY PRONOUNS! She/her or He/Him, or They/Them are all correct and okay to use when talking about them! (I just tend to default to they/them) Putting their full bio under the break!!! So you can read it all there!

"Resident gardener of Welcome Home, Dandy Leon is a curious but careful presence among the others in the neighborhood. They enjoy the quiet and spending their time tending to their various flowers. While a little shy around their fellow neighbors, they open up quickly when asked about their garden. Despite their more introverted disposition, they're always determined to make every day just dandy!"

It’s presumed that Dandy makes appearances only in the later episodes of the show’s run. But in old scripts found with them, it's shown that they moved to Home specifically because they were interested in the local plant life there. The episode that featured their move in seemed to focus on them slowly warming up to the others in the neighborhood, as their shy nature made it difficult for them to properly meet everyone. When asked as to where they lived before moving to Home, Dandy mentions living in a farm town far away, simply deeming it "far more south from here!" A lot of their dialogue also mentions their father, though he's never named but instead mentioned passively as Dandy would often use phrases like "Well it's like my pop always said-" when speaking to the other puppets.

During their short time on the show, Dandy's segments seemed focused on care for their garden, the language hinting that the flowers were more a metaphor for taking care of oneself and well being. Other characters can be found pointing out how much better Dandy’s garden looks when they’re feeling happy, but also comment how wilted it becomes when they’re shown to be a bit more downtrodden. They feel strongly about how important it is to be kind to yourself, even if it’s a skill they’re shown to still be working on themselves. Their confidence is something they also struggle with, seemingly a character meant for shyer audience members to attach to and grow alongside with. Dandy is often depicted in illustrations with Frank, getting along quite well in the show, often joining him and Julie on small escapades. Before the show's end however, most of Dandy's screen time is with Wally as he tries to get Dandy out of their shell more to spend time around others.

Interestingly, what pronouns were used for them seemed to change between the show's episodes and illustrated materials. While neighbors would refer to them as 'he' during the show, most art pieces seemed to refer to Dandy as a 'she'. Whether this was simply a miscommunication between teams or a printing error is unknown.

[gnomey22]

Stellar the Hedgehog Analysis

Just got home from watching the third Sonic movie, and since it focuses so much on Sonic and Shadow's relationship, I thought it'd be the best time to do something I've wanted to do for a while - drop an incredibly long post about my thoughts on @emthimofnight's Sonadow fankid, Stellar the Hedgehog.

And before I say anything more, here's a link to her ref sheet: https://www.tumblr.com/emthimofnight/747427162447118336/name-stellar-the-hedgehog-age-varies-based-on?source=share

A lot of the time, Sonic OCs have been passed off as "cringe", due to the unfortunately well-known ones, but the actual community is full of some of the most dedicated lore-makers and designers I've ever seen, and I'm not even someone who knows Sonic that well! I've done a fair bit of research on the series, but I've never played the main games for myself. I just stumbled onto Stellar while I was mindlessly scrolling, and as I checked out all the posts regarding her, I realised I'd found one of the most intricate, passionate fan creations I'd ever seen, and she's been living rent-free in my head ever since.

Now, for the meat of this post: My analytical thoughts on her. Let's break it down into categories:

Design and Personality:

I'm no expert on character design, I've barely even tried to do it myself (outside of my over-designed Miitopia OCs), but Stellar is absolutely striking. Her fur colour is a clever blend of Sonic's blue and Shadow's black, a dark blue resembling space, with a splash of red thrown in to add to the Shadow of it all. She has stripes as well, but as opposed to Shadow's slashing shapes, hers are more bendy, twisting into the form of a star. Inhibitor rings are strapped to her sneakers, a very poetic combination of her dads' getups, but she's also got her knee and elbow guards, a little touch of her own that links in with her fighting style, and also represents the constant protection around her which I'll get to later.

She's extremely star-coded, from the name to the space colour to the fur markings, and I think that was the perfect direction to go. Stars feel ethereal, but entirely grounded at the same time, a cosmic entity we can look towards at any point. Stellar is much the same, she contains an absolutely incredible power, taking after two previous incredible powers, but her personality is so warm and cheerful, and her very existence is what brings Sonic and Shadow together.

And that's the other point I want to make in this category. Stellar actually has three older siblings who died before they were born (I'll get to that), and they're essentially a sliding scale of Shadow's genes to Sonic's genes. Void is almost entirely Shadow, Andromeda has a bit more Sonic, Polarity is more Sonic than Shadow, and Stellar herself is the only true balance. That's a good word to describe what she represents, balance. Sonic's kindness combined with Shadow's anger, Sonic's showboating combined with Shadow's self-confidence, with her own bubbliness and grace added on top. Everything about her design, just like her role in the "SonDADow AU", simply clicks together.

Background Lore:

As someone unfamiliar with the history of the Sonic fandom, I'm not sure how common the "Sonadow fankid made in a lab" trope is. I know Stellar was not the first, and it'd be unreasonable to assume she was - but I'm willing to bet that Emthim has the very best exploration of the concept.

The failed siblings, for a start. That's a dark turn to take off the bat, the idea that Project: STELLAR has been attempted so many times, and still hasn't been shut down because these people are so desperate to put more insane power out into the world, but it really does set the tone for what's going on here. Stellar, just like Shadow, isn't being viewed as a genuine lifeform despite her title, she and all her siblings were a piece in the puzzle for a bunch of self-absorbed scientists trying to recreate a project that was inhumane from the start. Shadow is frequently pictured as struggling to cope with the knowledge of this project, and of the failed siblings, as it'd very obviously strike a lot of nerves. Sonic reminds him to move forward, though. Just like he always has.

That's another incredible aspect of all of this - Sonic and Shadow being forced to parent together despite being not-very-close-friends before this point. The little interactions displaying their bickering about how much influence each of them have had on their daughter, and constantly fumbling on taking care of her because all three of them have overpowering abilities that completely change how they go about their lives, give so much life to the relationship depicted between them all. Stellar is never outright told about her origin, because Sonic and Shadow want to keep her out of that life, and that level of protection being shown both warms the heart, and fills it with a sense of dread for when she'll find out, because it's (realistically) not a perfect strategy. This all adds so much to the idea that they were haphazardly thrown together by the circumstances of Stellar's very existence, and the duo of hedgehogs are just trying to make do.

Stellar as a sort of "dark star", in her ultimate form or Villain AU, is a concept that really ties it all together. She originated from an evil cause, something that only exists to cause unparalleled destruction, and yet her good will and sense of justice shines through no matter what. You can tie aspects of the same theme to both of her parents, but it's wholly concentrated in her story.

Powers and Abilities:

She's a figure-skater. That's pretty much the whole reason this category exists, I really want to break that down for a second.

The duality of ice skating is one-to-one with the duality of Stellar, in my eyes. It's a graceful, beautiful, typically feminine activity, but it's incredibly easy to cause damage with those blades, and strike the sickest poses on your foes. Stellar has a clearly-defined soft side to her, she's very sweet to the people she cares about, and has that all-encompassing energy only a child of Sonic could possess, but just as much as that, she will rip and tear through someone at a moment's notice if they piss her off, she's got that impulsiveness to her, and we all know she's got the power to back it up. She can be either of these things at any moment, the artistic blade always has an edge to it, and the contrast is no contradiction - She simply is all of her.

On top of that, I want to talk more about the dark/collapsing star form. The idea that she possesses such capacity for destruction, which could take her over from the inside out, that would leave her loved ones desperately reaching out to find that shining star - it has not left my mind since I first saw it. It's one of the most compelling narrative devices anywhere in this AU, there's so much potential in a character like Stellar, making an impact wherever she moves, becoming shrouded in the colossal darkness that still plagues her life no matter what she does. As for the specific piece that drew me into this form so much? I'll link it in the final category.

Camellar:

https://www.tumblr.com/emthimofnight/742720101897437184/some-sketches-illustrating-the-relationship?source=share

The first image in the set is the one I was just referencing, but I'd be retreading ground by talking about it, so I'll focus more on their relationship in general.

I love how it's so "mutual pining childhood friends"-coded, while also straying a decent bit away from the common tropes. Only Camellia has the feelings bouncing around her head like a DVD logo every moment of her life, because Stellar doesn't actually comprehend it at all, despite feeling much the same. True to her nature, she's so focused on building positive relationships with people that she doesn't recognise some of the intricacies of what the relationship is truly like, or what she truly feels herself. She's at her softest around Camellia, due to their long-lasting affection, but she's also at her fiercest when she gets protective. Camellia brings out every aspect of her personality in a way no-one else does... and certainly not a dishonest rival.

Rocket is my absolute favourite addition to the Camellar dynamic because he throws such a gigantic wrench in everything. His relationship with Stellar has none of the safety that Camellia's does, he's all about the thrill of it, feeding into the inexplicable attraction without thought of whether it'll hurt in the end or not. Initially, this is all one-sided on Stellar's side, eventually becoming one-sided on Rocket's, and either way, it brings about a vindictiveness in Camellia she usually isn't prone to, because just as much as Stellar is looking out for her, she's looking out for Stellar - in a variety of ways. She wants what's best for her, but she's also throughly convinced that it won't be anyone other than herself, and she's also right, especially since Rocket's such a prick at the end of the day.

The truth is, the reason Sonic and Shadow work is that they can keep up with each other. Both of their life stories are about becoming as free of a spirit as they can be, tossing aside everything thrown in their path to become confident in themselves and what they stand for. Stellar and Camellia are much the same. From an aesthetics and basic dynamic standpoint, there's more comparisons to draw between them and Sonamy, but in that case, it's entire game's worth of miscommunication and problem avoidance. In the case of Camellar, they're significantly more head-on with everything, they're both incredibly blunt about their affection, it's just that the romance aspect is lost in translation on Stellar's side. Not like that's the part that really matters, it's the mere unbreakable bond. The one that gets a princess desperately reaching out through a collapsing star for its heart. The one that gets a shining star to settle down for a moment.

Closing Thoughts:

This post definitely didn't cover everything. So much about Stellar is whirring around my brain at any given moment, I have no idea how I'd manage to jot it all down in a comprehensible and complete format, but this is what I've got. A post that hopefully shows just how deep my appreciation for Emthim's work goes, and how talented of a creator I believe her to be. Thank you for reading.

[adyophene]

I got a few people saying they wouldn't mind seeing a run down of my unfinished work and sketches! So this is gunna be just a big ol post of that and just explaining what the doodles would have ended up being!

First off is just some sketches of Alastor, Husk, a really uncanny Blitzo, and an unfinished voxhusk sketch

Left Husk was reffed off a pose that i've since lost, and right was going to be a little comic of Husk bugging Vox and then Vox bugging Husk in return. :( I don't remember what dialogue I was going to use.

Next is just some unfinished couple sketches! Some Chaggie and Angel/Sir Pentious that I might still use at some point. TuT I think Angel and Pentious could make such a hilarious couple and it kills me that I can't find almost anything for it

and this husk was just going to be a redraw of this

but with Al, Vox, Angel, and Lucifer petting him

next is one I did already post but this one here; left was going to be a short comic where Lilith comes back and is enamored with Husk while also vaguely threatening to Alastor as she is. Right is the only doodle I have so far for a comic about Husk and Charlie getting caught hiding out from the rain, and Husk trying to talk to her about her making a deal with Alastor. Ugh. I need to even just thumbnail out that comic. Its been in my mental queue for literal months!

Next up is a bunch of sketches of my own Hazbin OC, Shiv! I've never posted anything about him alone before, but he's featured in a lot of the backgrounds of my pieces! He was a carnie in voxhusk fake dating, and then a waiter in the diner piece, and ticket booth attendant in the movie theater one!

I always love putting him in just whatever job the art calls for because he is a '1980's cocaine and bourbon grindset hustlepilled business fuck'. I don't know if I will ever expand his story in artwork, but if I did I would draw something about him trying to get a Soul-Based Multilevel marketing scheme going. Shiv is short for 'Shiver' because he froze to death after drunk wandering naked into the woods while on a skiing trip. He's in hell because he made his money doing shitty business practices like scamming old people out of their money with phone scams. If he saw Mad Men he'd think it would be about him, but he'd fit better in Its Always Sunny

Lastly, I have some sketches from a comic I am literally fighting myself not to make, where Husk ends up kidnapped by a ring of criminals that smuggle sinners to other Rings of Hell. Husk would be captured to be an exotic pet for a Ostrich theme'd Goetia, but would quickly escape. The main plot would be him running into and then helping out Blitzo in return for help getting back to the Pride ring!

I would have also got to include my other OC, the little Egg lamb, Sunnysides!

Literally would have just been a huge excuse for me to draw Husk going through Situations and hanging out with the Helluva Boss cast and my OCs.

[ask-rain-world-characters]

Hello everyone, and welcome!

We are the denizens of the wonderous world we all know and love. And we have all gathered here to speak with you! Got anything you desire to say, ask, or send our way? Do it anytime you wish, and we shall respond - through our voices! - We are voice acting enthusiasts, some of whom, you may have already heard in some Rain World fan projects. You can send anything at a character - images, art, questions, ideas, videos, whatever you wish! And the character shall react - just like in any other askblog. But the difference is not just that we use voiceovers to answer (instead of art), but that the process is fully collaborative. As the VAs of the characters all have full creative control over what they say, instead of following the standard practice of one person writing/deciding everything.

Important things to note (please read before submitting):

No Watcher spoilers of any kind until April 28! (Signing up to play creatures and/or characters that appear in the DLC is also disallowed, until then)

When you send us something, make it abundantly clear which character you're addressing. You're allowed to address multiple, or even the entire cast.

NSFW submissions are not allowed. Mildly suggestive ones are fine, but they will not get a response, if the character you're addressing has a minor as its VA, or an adult that would be uncomfortable with it.

This project is fully non-canon. VAs are allowed to use headcanons and personal interpretations when answering. It's also not really meant to be serious, so feel free to send us silly stuff :3

You should only submit things for characters that actually have VAs, as you wouldn't be able to get a response otherwise.

List of available characters, that you can currently send stuff to:

Survivor - @oliverwritesnow

Monk - @isnt-a-blog-blog (Spooky ARK is currently taking a break from the role)

Hunter - @astur-x

Nightcat/Watcher - @areon103

Gourmand - @fadebolt

Artificer - @arti-draws

Rivulet - @daikonical

Spearmaster- @dysfunctionalcore

Saint - ( @imjayig was the old VA, but they decided to step back, so the role is free for taking)

Inv/Enot - @isnt-a-blog-blog

Looks to the Moon - @mewguca

Five Pebbles - @cctv-catgirl

No Significant Harassment - ( @ifoundthishumerus was the old VA, but they decided to step back, so the role is free for taking)

Seven Red Suns - @meggolorbuggolor

Sliver of Straw - (the anonymous old VA has decided to step back, so the role is free for taking)

Unparalleled Innocence - @bigtimefreq

Gazing Stars - ( @the-separated-colony was the old VA, but they decided to step back, so the role is free for taking)

Chieftain Scavenger - @wildbilldoo (backing up for @unrealwasas)

Lizards: Green, Pink, Blue, Red, Caramel - @asdasdasdasd1840

More Lizards: White, Salamander, Cyan - @astur-x

Black Lizard - ( @urealwasas was the old VA, but they seem to be gone, so the role is free for taking)

Yellow Lizard - MrBob (backing up for @unrealwasas)

Eel Lizard - @oliverwritesnow

Train Lizard - @wildbilldoo

Scavenger - @areon103 (backing up for @unrealwasas)

Other creatures: Squidcada, Lantern Mouse, Pole Plant, Yeek - @asdasdasdasd1840

Atlas (OC of @solarshaku) - @dysfunctionalcore

For images, refs and pieces of information regarding the OCs of our blog, you can check up on our Google Doc, which will be updated if we get new characters, or the VAs/owners want to change something.

The person primarily running this project and blog is me, @fadebolt. If you wish to voice act a character yourself, shoot me a DM, either here, or in Discord (my name is also 'fadebolt' there, and I'm in the main RW server, so finding me should be easy). There's absolutely no limit with the characters you could ask to VA. Slugcats, iterators, ancients, echoes, scavengers, any other species... they're all available! We also aren't limiting ourselves to just the base game. Characters from Downpour, characters from mods, OCs, and non-canon characters in general are also available (though if you're planning to VA a character owned by someone else, then make sure to consult them first).

One important thing I must note is that recently, the VA for the Scavenger Chieftain, Regular Scavenger, Yellow Lizard and Black Lizard, has randomly disappeared off the internet without a trace, so their roles are now available for taking - at least until they return (if that ever happens). Do note that the Scavenger Chieftain, Regular Scavenger, and Yellow Lizard were already taken by other people, but the Black Lizard is still available! The other characters, whose VAs have also stepped back, are No Significant Harassment, Sliver of Straw and Gazing Stars. So we're looking for new folks to fill in those roles, too! Just... don't ask for characters who are already taken. Asking to be a backup is fine (in fact, backup VAs would be more than welcome), but we're not stripping anyone of their role, just because someone else asked for it as well. This post will be regularly updated, with the list of all the taken characters, and their VAs. Characters who are not on the list do not have VAs, and are fully open.

Submit your OCs, to be featured on the blog:

If you're looking for some elaboration on the OC thing, you can find it within this post.

[the-swaggy]

Deltarune Lost Pieces au post number two, electric boogaloo:

The main bosses/Secret bosses: King, Queen, Jevil & Spamton!

I am hoping that tumblr doesn't obliterate the image quality 😭

This a sequel post to this post I made about the Lancer Fanclub, if you wanna learn more about my little project you can read my other yap sesh there.

More super cool lore below:

(totally not trying to get you to read my massive infodump rn)—

My deltarune au is called Lost Pieces, and basically it's a deltarune au where Kris and Susie forgot about the prophecy and stopped going to Castletown & exploring dark worlds after they came back from the cyberworld— and then remember about it later when they are all Asriel's age & in college and stuff, and have to reinstill hope in everyone and reform the Fun Gang/@$%& Squad/Lancer Fanclub (in this au, it's called the Lancer fanclub).

if you saw my other post then you do not need to read all of this, you can just scoll to King's section

Other info that I may or may not have briefly mentioned in the ref sheets/other random info:

(TW: mental health stuff, familial issues, charecter death, depictions of violence, religious themes, manipulation)

General: 

This au takes place after a true route (not a wierd route/snowgrave route, Noelle nor the others killed anyone.. exempt Spamton but like that was on accident 😭) (he is still technically around guys dw)

In Lost Pieces, Kris and Susie discovered the darkworld while they were in middleschool (they were 12-13yrs), Ralsei was around their age as well, and Lancer was two years younger than the three (10yrs). 

The lighteners first arrived in 2018, since that's when Deltarune came out. The events of chapter one took place on 12/11/18 and chapter two on 12/12/18. That was the last day Kris was in the darkworld— however Susie's last visit was in 2020. She didn't visit super often, but would try for once a month.

Worldbuilding-specific stuff:

The town that Kris and Susie live in is in the northern midwest of the U.S.

In Lost Pieces, the darkworld have different names— The darkworld that contains 'Card Kingdom' is called Kaardarke (pronounced "card-ar-kay-"), The Cyberworld is technically called 'Cybertopia', but nobody really calls it that anymore.

Each darkworld had their own offical language before The Knight showed up— after that, they all switched over to the language that the knight spoke. That's the only reason that Kris and Susie were even able to understand the darkeners.

Each darkener species is bound to the world they came from (EX: Maises to the Cyberworld, Hathy to Kaardarke), but before the knight created each world's respective fountains, they could crossover into eachother's worlds using The Pure-Fountain in the then-empty Castletown as a portal (This was because the spare classroom used to have a small computer lab). Only after the fountains in each world were created, they couldn't crossover anymore due to the energy from the opposite portals turning visiters to stone. Eventually the computer lab was removed from the spare classroom and all of the old supplies were moved to the library. Darkeners who have one parent from each of the two darkworlds are bound to the world that they spend the most time in, which is why Lancer was bound to Kaardarke rather than Cybertopia.

While The Cyberworld uses a lot of more-lightworldish concepts, such as the months being January-December like they are in english-speaking countries & understanding social refrences (like how Queen understands lightener internet humor, and how Addisons understand how buisness works, like how a lightener would)— Kaardarke is a lot less connected to the lightworld. They had some vague connections through back when Cybertopians could travel there, but lost a lot of them during the time since then. They have their own calender system, social pyramid and their society functions very differently than Cybertopia's, or the lightworlds'.

Darkener species list time!

First up is Kaardarke:

Hathy

Rudinn

Clobbes (pronounced "claw-bes")— the clubs, basically think of Clover 

Tribril (pronounced "trib-rill")— the spades, basically think of King and Lancer

Bloxers

Jigsawra— the puzzle piece lookin' dudes, basically think of the tutorial masters & jigsawry

Rabbick

Chescheckes (pronounced "chez-check-ees")— the checkers/chess guys (C-Rounds & K-Rounds) and Mr. Elegance/Mr. Society

Starwalkers— the starwalker birds .......and of course nobody could forget about my guy The Original   Starwalker

Species list for Cybertopia:

Tasques

Swatchlings

Pluggids— plugboy, werewires, werewerewire technically

Maises

Poppups

Addisons

Ambyu-Lancers

ViroViroKuna

Musiks— basically, think of Sweet, Cap'n & K_k or whatever their names are 😭

Mascottics— everyone else, (basically the thing about Mascottics is that they are all unique)— think Nubert or sum idk

Okay no more species lists, back to notes.

The knight-made fountains can cause darkeners to have vivid nightmares and visions if exposed to them closely for a long period of time. It can influence their behavior too (canon).

The knight showed up in Kaardarke at some point in the late 90s, and in Cybertopia in 2008

King— and a bunch of Knight-era Kaardarke bs:

King was a very strict ruler, and a very strict father. He forbade Lancer from many seemingly normal things— such as eating dark-candies (canon). King was influenced heavily by the dark fountain when the Lancer Fanclub rebeled against him, which is why he acted so bizzarly during the fight, and why he carlessly threatened to kill his own son. King knows Lancer will never forgive him for how he treated him.

King had prior experience with lighteners before the Lancer Fanclub arrived, that being with The Knight. 

This next part is crazy long, whoops..!

When the The Knight, it entered Kaardarke through the new fountain it made— which happened to be in Eastern Kaardarke, which was the Tribril Kingdom. The Tribril kingdom was ruled by King's father at the time, but The Knight wanted things to change.

 It purpousfuly inspired fights between the four kingdoms; North (the Rudinn Kingdom), South (the Hathy kingdom), and West (the Clobbes kingdom) in order to determine which kingdom was the one who would inherrit the entirety of Kaardarke, as The Knight didn't want the fact that there were four leaders rather than one, to get in the way of it's plans to bring about The Roaring.

Eventually, the four kings reached a stalemate— which prompted The Knight to make their own desision, choosing the Clobbes Kingdom as the one true kingdom, which enraged the other three; they sent their armies to attack the Clobbes castle, killing their Queen (who's name was Queen Brutus) and chasing off their young Princess (Thats Clover, you know her!). 

The Knight made it's next desision, choosing The Hathy kingdom as the new true kingdom. The two kingdoms who hadn't been damaged yet— Rudinn North and Tribril East, attacked the Hathy Castle next, killing their Queen. The hathy kingdom didn't have an heir to dispose of at the time. 

By this time, the Rudinn King (who's name was King Diamidi I) and The Spade King (Who's name was King Tolius IV) became extremely distressed about who was going to be chosen next. The two kings were particularly close, and knew that they would turn on one another because of this. But who cares its the prophecy, right?

Next, The Knight nominated the Rudinn Kingdom. The kings knew what would happen next, as the Rudinn Queen was killed, along with the Rudinn prince, who was soon to take the throne. The kings were all still around and free at this, but were extremely stressed. Their kingdoms were in ruins, as the townsfolk were panicked and terrified, scattering and fleeing.

The Knight declared that the Tribril Kingdom was the true kingdom at last— and by this time, the other kingdoms were to weak to fight back. There was finally a winner in this fight.

King Tolius was unsure of what to do know that he had inherrited the entire kingdom— he was getting old, and he didn't have a prince to make into the new King in his place. The Knight eventually would propose a solution to this issue, stating that he should choose to have one of his daughters— Princess Tolia and Princess Espera, to come with it to search the remains of the kingdoms for a new King to replace their father.

(Context: in Kaardarke, the formerly four-way-monarchy worked in a very specific way. Each kingdom had a King, which acted as the main ruler of said kingdom, that kingdom would also have a Queen— but rather than being the King's wife, they were the king's sibling or cousin and they work together like coworkers. The King's wives were the Queens from other kingdoms that weren't their own. For example, the Hathy King's wife was the Tribril Queen and the Hathy Queen's husband was the Clobbes King, if that makes sense idk)

Anyways, King Tolius IV chose his least favorite daughter— Princess Espera to go with The Knight to search.

Haha but this was a diversion..! 

The Knight's true motive was to get Princess Espera into power, as the overuling Queen of the entirety of Kaardarke, which was unheardof in Kaardarke society, as the Queens were usually just semi-rulers of their own kingdoms, and didn't usually get involved with the whole of Kaardarke's affairs. The Knight was new here though, it didn't understand anything major about how Kaardarke's government worked. It just knew that it wanted to have a say in it— and it could, by using Espera as a pawn.

Eventually, The Knight convinced Espera to present her (The Knight's) plan to her father, who was furious. That didn't matter though, it was the prophecy.

Princess Espera (not in her own will) eventually locked up her own family, and the former kings in the Tribril Kingdom's royal prison, and took her place as ruler of the whole darkworld. But she wasn't really in change, she was just a puppet for The Knight to speak through. She didn't really have any power over anything at this time.

That's when The Knight drew into the fountain, retrived an object from within the pure darkness and offered it to Espera. This item was called the dark mantle. Yadda yadda she takes it and now she is greatly influenced by the dark fountain, yadda yadda.

The Knight departed after this, but now-Queen Espera still acted on 'it's wishes'. She did what she thought it wanted, she didn't want the knight to abandon her— she didn't know what to do with herself anymore. She executed her father and sister in a fit of desperation, since she knew The Knight wanted her to have complete control over her world. She continued to spiral until Kaardarke was distracted by a rebelion, as some of the surviving former princesses of the three other kingdoms began to protest the Tribril rule. Eventually, it was sorted out through various threats from their new Queen.

One of the former rebels, Princess Ruebi of the formerly Rudinn Kingdom of the North, was a former friend to Espera and her family. Ruebi knew that Queen Espera wasn't in her correct state of mind, and offered her help to Espera. While she hesitated at first, eventually the two put aside their differences and tried their best to preserve their friendship.

Eventually they were lovers (wowza!), and also Espera transitioned during that time.

(King doesn't talk about it, and Lancer doesn't even know about it either. Nobody really remembers it anymore, they don't care either.)

Their relationship didn't really last long though, this also bleeds into Queen's backstory at this point, so I'm going to start her section now.

Queen— and a bunch of Pre-Knight/Knight-era Cybertopia bs:

I took a lot of inspo from old computers and PCs when I developed her. She whirrs constanly, but it gets louder when she's focused on something, or when she's overwhelmed. Her algorithm is based on trending topics online, which affects her vocabulary and what she displays on her visor. She tried to keep her algorithm as up-to-date as possible. 

Her story is also pretty long, so buckle up I guess,

And it involves all of the Kaardarke lore I was just yapping about before this too. Believe me, that was all relevant 😭

The Cyber World, or Cybertopia as it's known, is a relatively new darkworld. It was created by 'HEAVEN'. (Heaven represents humanity guys.. thats what Spamton was talking about!)

'HEAVEN' gave the world it's inhabitants, it's land, everything. 

But, the world was in chaos when it first appeared, so it had to send down a ruler.

(...That was Queen, guys I swear I am taking this loredump seriously...!)

Basically she was sent down in pieces to each Cybertopian darkener species as little microchips— but they didn't know how to utilize them, so they sent a single representative of each species and each threw their species' pieces into a pool of acid.

Yadda yadda she rose out the acid, (she looked way different back then, basically think of her concept art since that's kind of what she looked like at the time) and everyone panicked because that doesn't.. you know.. normally happen. They went to tell others about what happened but by that time she had vanished. 

Then a war broke out because half of the population was pissed that they 'wasted HEAVEN's gift' and the other half claimed it was a flawed gift. They fought for years, building a wall that stretched across the land, splitting it in two compleatly demolished halves— until a mysetrious being appeared and tried to convince them to stop fighting.

When they refused, it simply gave up and said that 'the better side was right after all', and left.

Then the two sides began to fight over who was better, and decided that whoever cleaned up their half of the world was the better side. Eventually, both sides were clean, and the being returned to see the two sides inspecting eachother's handywork— compleatly ignoring their previous conflict. 

Eventually they all realized Cybertopia needed a leader, and they decided the being would tske up that role.

It was unsure of how to go about it at first, and didn't understand what it was doing— eventually it met someone who could show it how.

Many, many years later, the word that The Knight of the prophecy appeared in Kaardarke prompted the being to venture to the purefountain and and observe it's changes by speaking with it's Kings. It left with a small party, consisting of it's head guard: a tasque-manager named Terabyti (guys it's tasque manager!), it's head butler: a swatchling named Indigo (guys it's head swatch!) and it's castle vendor & head of buisness: an addison named 5Fb5ea (we will find out about him very soon) (its Spamton).

When it and it's party finally arrived at the empty Castletown, and looked upon the purefountain, it saw another face looking through it from within Kaardarke. That face, would help the being learn how to be a leader.

The being was shocked to learn from the newcomer that there were no longer four Kings, but just one ruler. The newcomer introduced itself properly as that ruler, King Lancer I. (Guys it's King!)

Because there wasn't a knight-made darkfountain in Cybertopia yet, King Lancer I could travel to the Cyber World for the time being, and him and the being became great freinds.

However, the being was still uncertain as to who it wanted to become, it had so much responcibilty now. What was it going to do.

It's new friend always spoke about the prophecy, and The Knight— and how it wished for it's return so desperatly. Was the prophecy really that big of a deal?

Yadda yadda they fall in love (T4T moment!)

Through their relationship, the being discovered itself— it knew exactly what it wanted to be, who it really was. So, now we have Queen..!

But there was an issue— King Lancer I was already married to the now-Queen Ruebi, who became worried about her husband since he hadn't been in Kaardarke for some time. She discovered that she had been cheated on and she & Queen became mortal enemies.

King didn't really know what to do about this— he, Ruebi and Queen fought, and he simply left Cybertopia with Ruebi & never really saw Queen again until modern-era. Queen doesn't really like his ass anymore 😭

(They are so divorsed 😭😭)

She is kind of on & off with Rouxls now-a-days. (kind of a queenkaard moment?)

Jevil:

Back in the day, Kaardarke had 2 court-jesters. One for the North & South kingdoms, and one for the East & West kingdoms.

Jevil was the jester of the East & West, while Seam was the royal magician of the same two kingdoms. The two would preform together and were incredibly good friends. 

Jevil would also frequently visit Cybertopia, as he was good friends with their head-of-buisness & castle vendor, 5Fb5ea (Spamton in his 'Big Shot Era'). They eventually fell in love and got married (spamvil real???), but that also didn't last long.

It all changed for worse when The Knight arrived. 

As the kingdoms were torn apart by the king's jealousy towards eachother— Jevil was approached by The Knight, who told them the truth about the world they lived in. And, how it was all just a game. How nothing mattered at all, it was all in good fun. None of it was real.

Jevil didn't belive it at first, but after witnessing how The Knight played it's cards right and destroyed Kaardarke in just a matter of weeks, they became sure of it. The Knight was right, nothing mattered.

Jevil quickly changed, they lashed out at their co-workers, at everyone. They lost their mind.

They stopped visiting 5Fb5ea and couldn't bring themselves to care anymore. It all came to a boiling point when Seam confonted Jevil. They tried to reason with them, they tried to convince them that it was all untrue. Jevil lashed out again— this time, it was just towards Seam, their best friend. Seam knew what they had to do. They had them arrested, and sent to the Tribril Royal Prison, along with the four former Kings. 

Anyways more modern Jevil lore—

Jevil never 'died' in their fight because they simply just transformed into the devilsknife; but because it was a true route (which doesnt involve violence, making the devilsknife useless in combat), Jevil was never really utilized & spent most of their time in Kris' inventory.

Jevil nowadays is still struggling with taking things seriously, and with caring about anything at all. After all, what's the point when everything's just a game.

and if you're wondering if they recognize Spamton now, they don't. They don't realize it's the same person as 5Fb5ea was (Because they aren't really the same person anymore).

Spamton: 

Spamton wasn't always Spamton, back in the day he was just 5Fb5ea. 

Just a normal addison, named after his hex code, with a normal life. But, he wanted so much more, he wanted to be great.

5Fb5ea attended buisness school, with other addisons— including their friends, FF88FF (pink), 81bEED (blue), etc. They had dreams that weren't on par with his. He would always gloat about wanting to make it big, but his sales were never good enough.

Until he got that phonecall.

Eventually, his life came together. His sales were skyrocketing, his dreams were coming true. He had been annonced as 1997's salesman of the year, and Queen herself had appointed him as Cybertopia's head-of-buisness. Everyone loved him (he married Jevil around this time too), he kept soaring higher and higher— His life couldn't get any better.

The Knight arrived.

Then, he stopped getting calls.

His buisness empire began to crumble, he fell from the sky, his dreams were unreachable again. It hurt more now, since he now had tasted that life. He crashed hard, he didn't understand what he did wrong. He waited by the phone for hours, days, months, years. Queen got tired of him, and threw him out. The public didn't love him anymore. Jevil lost their mind, they acted strange now. They were careless, they stopped visiting. Now 5Fb5ea had nobody.

They took a walk to clear their mind. 

They got too close to the edge, they fell hard.

He was changed into something— someone new.

He didn't recognize himself anymore.

He wasn't 5Fb5ea anymore.

He broke into the royal basement in Pandora Palace frequently. He wanted to taste that life again— when he found it. He found what he wanted. He wept and prayed at the sight of it, before he was dragged away from it again. He could never reach his dreams.

And, when he did. It was all the same after all, the strings were still there. He was just a puppet. He was just a thing to be used. Then, he was offered freedom, but he was dragged away again. He could never be free. He was not truely alive unless he was bound by his strings— unless he was chasing that dream.

Okay now for more modern Spamton lore—

Spamton kind of 'died' in the NEO fight— but he is still kind of alive (his existance is complicated). Because Kris did basically destroy him as a result of his battle with the Lancer Fanclub, what was left of his 'life' basically became bound to the dealmaker, and doesn't really exist unless someone puts it on, (For non deltarune nerds, the dealmaker is basically an armor item, in this case its his glasses) when a person does put on the dealmaker, he can see and speak through them, now becoming 'the puppeteer' instead of 'the puppet' (Spamton's 'original' body was destroyed when Spamton 'becomed NEO').

When Kris specifically last left castletown, they emptied their inventory and left the dealmaker and a lot of other stuff behind just kinda in their room in the castle. 

Ralsei found the dealmaker and decided to try to keep it on the Blue Addison's maniquin, because of the dealmaker's ablilities, Spamton uses the maniquin as his new body and styled it to look like how he used to look, sort of.

Spamton works at the Top Bakery, trying to make enough money to get himself off the ground again, but it will be awhile before he feels the wind on his wings again.

Spamton doesn't remember his days as 5Fb5ea very well, his memory was affected by the acid exposure. (His skin was also melted off?) (in my au, all addisons look like puppets under their skin??) (the acid also shrunk him, his legs especially since they were in the acid the longest) (His skin was originally blue in my interpritation as the hex code 5Fb5ea suggests, he matches the pipis..!) (I know about the poster featuring canon big shot spam.. this is my au though, so he's blue here 🔥)

Okay infodump over, you survived!

I will make the vendor's refsheets next, and rouxls..

[jewel-pixelheart]

One Piece OC : Magma

Finally! I'm done with Magma's ref sheet! I won't detail her story much here, but here's the main information:

(Quick) Backstory :

Rose D Emily was born in a small island in Grand-Line. Her parents were caring, and she had lots of friends. But when she was 7, she accidentally ate the Radioactive Devil Fruit and destroyed the half of her island.

This accident caught the curiosity of the MADS, who kept the uncontrollable girl with them. During 13 years, Emily, who was nicknamed Magma, sailed with the MADS. She learned a lot about science and technology to become a real scientist herself.

When the World Government dissolved the MADS, Magma choose to stay with Vegapunk and joined the government's research team alongside Caesar too. During 22 years, she worked on Punk Hazard, helping Vegapunk with his research.

When Caesar launched a powerful poison gas that devastated the island, Magma was knockout and disappeared in the chaos.

When Caesar came back on Punk Hazard, Magma was still here. Fortunately for him, she lost her memories and didn't remember who caused the explosion. Caesar lied, telling her it was all Vegapunk's fault. Disappointed, Magma helped Caesar by saving the former prisoners.

2 years later, Magma's memories came back. Remembering the truth, she confronted Caesar. Unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to face him. Trapped in Punk Hazard, Magma had no choice but stay prisoner. (The power of her Devil Fruit was an asset for Caesar, who decided to keep her.)

2 years later, Magma was saved by Luffy's crew and Law. Feeling responsible for Caesar crimes, she joined them on their journey to keep an eye on him. She'll travel to Dressrosa, Zou and Whole Cake before leaving the Straw Hat.

Trivia:

Her suit was created by Vegapunk to better control her radiations

She is immunized to all forms of poison

Luffy's nicknamed her Firefly because of her glowing hair

She gets on well with Luffy and Sanji

Magma is ship with Caesar ♡ You can read more about their relationship here

Magma Wanted Poster:

This photo was taken just after she accidentally destroyed a part of her island. (She was 7 yo). After she joined the World Government research team, her bounty was discontinued. Which means this poster is no longer valid.

About the Hōsha Hōsha no Mi:

The Radioactive Fruit gives the ability to its user to produce radiations and control radioactivity. This Fruit was eaten by accident by Rose D Emilly (aka Magma) when she was still a child.

The Hōsha Hōsha no Mi is a powerful Paramecia. Aside manipulate radioactivity, its user is immunized to all forms of poison. Which makes them dreadful against the venom-venom Fruit and most of the life forms. If not carefully used, the radiations can destroy everything in their path. The DNA of the user is also modified by the radiations. Which result to slow down the ageing process of its user. This also has an impact on the physique of its user, like the green glowing hair of Magma for instance.

Because of the incident on her natal island, Magma is afraid of her Devil Fruit capacities. This is why she only uses her power when needed. Therefore, she is able to control her radiations but prefer to wear the suit Vegapunk created for her, just in case. This suit helps her to regulate the intensity of her radiations, without any efforts.

Since The Hōsha Hōsha no Mi have an important impact on the DNA of its user, the MADS have done research on its effects. These researches have greatly helped to discover the Lineage Factor. Later on, Caesar Clown will use the effect of Radioactive Fruit to improve the SAD (while Magma was trapped on Punk Hazard).

One of the weaknesses of the Radioactive Fruit is the cold. Cold temperatures can slow down/stop the fusion of atoms, making the radiations of its user powerless. Which explains why Magma was vulnerable against Punk Hazard weather and Monet's power.

More about my One Piece OCs here

Templates by grandlineocs on Instagram

Do not copy, retrace or use my art without my consent !

[sanchoyoscribbles]

🌟❤️hammer time!! 💙🌟

this is a DTIYS to celebrate 300 followers on IG! I've never done one of these before but I wanted to give it a try with Mira from tokyo miracle, my webcomic! (free to read, link in my pinned!)

ALL entries will get a prize so long as you follow the rules! :3

Rules: -draw this image in your style! this isn't just a general 'draw this character'- you can change up the lighting/angles, background, etc, but I'd like if the vibe/pose were similar, just in your styles! you can look under the readmore for her references. you're totally welcome to simplify or modify her clothes/weapon if you'd like to be creative (if you're unsure if something would be okay, just ask!!)

-be following me! this is for followers so I can give you guys lil prizes. New followers totally welcome! (you do not need an IG account. this is for both here and there!)

-deadline is may 30th! (my birthday :3c) no extensions!

-tag with #sanchoyoDTIYS and tag me! I'd hate to miss any entries >_<

-all entries will be featured in a pinned story on my IG or rbed to my main here to be featured (@sanchoyo) ! Amount of prizes will depend on how many entries I get, but as of posting this:

1st place: a fully rendered piece with any character 2nd place: a chibi of any character all other entries: a sketch of a character

(prize characters can be characters u like or ur own ocs! basically the same guidelines as my commissions, nothing inappropriate yk. common sense guidelines! but I'm happy to do soft mech and furries as well as humanoids!)

heres the refs. again, totally ok to simplify, or like, since shes a tmm oc, you could make her outfit tmm new style. or put her in a diff magical girl au like sailor moon or something. again, creativity is 1000% encouraged so long as the pose/vibe is the same and shes still recognizable!!!

[20dollarlolita]

Things to do when making a lolita garment from a non-egl pattern.

I have this blouse pattern:

[x]

And I have four cotton voile curtains and a pink bedsheet.

I know that I want to use this pattern and this fabric to make a lolita blouse. I want it to be a blouse that I can wear with JSKs and skirts. So, where do we go from there?

Let's find out:

Step 1 is to check our materials, and make sure that existing lolita fashion pieces exist that are like this pattern, and in this material.

Thankfully, lolibrary makes that really easy.

It's so very nice to have a dedicated team of nerds dedicated to documenting and tagging every single piece of our fashion's history.

And then we grab any picture that feels like it's the same construction as the blouse pattern we have.

Links: https://lolibrary.org/items/af-kawaii-vintage-chiffon-blouse https://lolibrary.org/items/lg-tulle-yoke-blouse https://lolibrary.org/items/aatp-michael-blouse-2024 https://lolibrary.org/items/ap-holy-doll-blouse https://lolibrary.org/items/ap-star-dancer-blouse

That's 5 examples, but I already had a pretty good idea what I was doing, so I didn't keep researching. Don't forget that, if you don't really have a ton of hands-on lolita experience, it's hard to over-research. Also, if you do a TON of research, and you cannot find an example of the thing you want to make in a fabric similar to the ones you want to make it from, that might be a sign.

Now, I went into my own closet, and grabbed the 4 blouses that I most often wear with skirts. I know that I want to wear this pattern with skirts, because I don't always feel comfortable in JSKs on blouses that have bibs/front yokes like this. I've made a bib front blouse before, and I had trouble coording it with JSKs.

Blouses: https://lolibrary.org/items/bodyline-honey-parish-blouse-l364 https://lolibrary.org/items/bodyline-l059-blouse-with-jabot https://lolibrary.org/items/btssb-princess-rose-lace-full-of-frills-blouse https://www.amazon.com/TanQiang-Womens-Lolita-Sleeve-Embroidered/dp/B07BFSLFYC/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2BE37ENMLLTXG&sprefix=lolita+fashio%2Caps%2C217

George and Ginger have a LOT of pictures of people who have made their blouse. I don't want to post any of them specifically here, but this is an example:

This is a HUGE resource for anyone who wants to make this blouse, because in addition to seeing how it looks in the technical illustration and in the sample, we can see how it actually looks when someone makes it. We can also look at the things that we don't like (for EGL fashion) and what we do like.

For example, in my examples, the front yoke is a place to put as many details as you possibly can. We have multiple layers of lace on the edge, and then detailing such as pintucks on the yoke itself. On these, the yoke is the design feature, so by comparison, it's relatively plain.

I also can see the different ways that people use lining, sheer, and sheer over a lining. I don't see a combination of lining/sheer that I like as much as the Axes Femme blouse in the top-right of my inspo collage. I'm going to make mine like that Axes Femme blouse, instead of how the instructions might recommend.

But the main thing that I'm noticing is that this blouse is LONG. That's just the style it is, but it would mean that I can tuck it into skirts but can't wear it over them. Since one of my favorite things to do is to make skirts with elastic tops for low-energy fun EGL, I don't want a blouse that I have to tuck into the waist. So, I look at this, and I know what I want to do:

Things that I can do without modifying the pattern:

Choose what parts of the garment will be lined/flat lined, and what will stay sheer

Add more detailing to the yoke with applied trim

Swap all of the ruffles for lace, to add more detail

Add a ruffle to the bottom.

And things that I will modify the pattern for:

Making the pattern shorter to match my existing blouses

Re-patterning the yoke to add tucks

In addition, I might add a ruffle or some ruffled trim along the button placket. The reason I say might is that I haven't checked if the shirt has a separate placket to apply to the garment, or if it's a self-made placket. If it's separate, it's a very easy adjustment, and if it's made of self, it's a very difficult adjustment. I sew to have fun, and that doesn't sound like fun to me.

Because I wasted a lot of my life trying to get a degree in something useless am a confident sewer, I can look at those pattern modifications and know that they won't be too difficult for me. If this was my first fitted garment made from a commercial pattern, I might elect to skip the patterning adjustments.

So, how do we make the blouse shorter? If you have a blouse you like it's pretty easy:

Step 1) print your pattern, and cut it out if you have to. Step 2) take your favorite blouse.

We're using this Amazon one because it's the longest:

The first piece that I grabbed said "center back", so we line it up with the center back and make a mark where the bottom ends.

For the side front and side back pieces, we measure the side seam with the armpit of the blouse.

For the front, we have to stack the bib onto the front piece, overlapping by the seam allowance, and measure along the center front.

To save fabric, I'm just chopping the bottom of the pattern off a few inches below the marks. This won't make an even bottom hem, but I can straighten the hem after we're done.

If your fabric is absolutely precious and you cannot waste any, there is a more proper way to do this, but if your fabric is absolutely precious and you can't waste any, you should really be making a mockup first anyway, so you can do what we do here, make the mockup, and then transfer your mockup adjustments back onto the pattern.

This is long so to add tucks you google a tutorial for how to add tucks and then do what that says. I took pictures of how I did it and it's so unholy that I can't dare to post it.

Anyway, stick around for me to actually finish this project for once and give my end results about the lolita-ability of this pattern.

[kaiserouo]

Wow i actually have enough rendered pieces to make an art summary this year. Just barely tho

Ramble below, also template ref

Oh god where do i even start. This is the part where i reflect on myself and do nothing about it afterwards.

In thems of topics, it's mostly just apex d2 and wf. I've never made my own world and characters because most ideas that i have the motivation to make into art comes from me playing the game. Maybe that's why I don't really treat a lot of my original character as "original characters", because they're still bound to a game instead of, you know, born out of the blue i guess.

I barely did render this year... I mean, not just this year of course. I think I slightly got the hang of it these two months? At least I kinda have a pipeline that I can follow and could tolerate / fix some of my mistakes in the later stages (e.g., picking wrong colors for flat color and wanna fix it during rendering etc.). It's... kinda like OOP? Decoupling code? I think it just comes down to opening a million layers and not feeling bad about it. Anyway I think one of my improvements comes from here.

Another improvement would be the speed of doing sketches and the complexity of the lineart I can handle (idk how to say that). I need to draw comics and there would be a lot of people in there, so even if I don't practice specifically I still need to draw some human figures. The complexity part is due to me getting into warframe just because of how fucking complicated they all are. Maybe instead of lineart complexity I should say I'm comfortable drawing somewhat complex characters now without my brain overloading and immediately giving up. Still haven't drawn BT though.

That's probably all the obvious improvements I can think of. I didn't read as many books as last year, but the two main books I read last year are for perspective and anatomy, which I do find very very useful. I still often go back to check some anatomy stuff this year, and with me spam drawing comics I think I can draw human figures better than before... if I only consider proportion that is. I think I have to redo anatomy all over again especially for the muscle part. Also probably should do more real human reference practice... Well, you can probably guess why I said that at the start.

I do think the reason why I do so little rendering is because I mostly do comics. Most of my ideas have a plot and my idea list is waaaaay too long to actually color the comics. And as I feel more comfortable drawing comics I fear more when I wanna do rendering because of the skill gap I have between the two subjects. Also most of you come for silly comics so why do I do full rendered pieces anyways... Yeah, after typing that sentence I do feel wrong thinking like that. But oh well, I guess I can't escape the curse of liking to see numbers go up.

Speaking of numbers, here's some of them. Good thing I don't have to deal with Tumblr API myself.

That's... quite a lot of followers, for me. I mean I don't stay in only one fandom so I have no idea why most of you followed me. Also sorry to ultrakill fans I just don't draw a lot for that game but I see some of you liking a ton of ultrakill post and immediately follows me. Kinda felt that I baited you folks for following me tbh...

Also 3 of my top 5 posts (2234 > 1726 > 1641 > 1531 > 1321) are ultrakill and I only have 27 ultrakill art posts (a lot fewer than other games) so... um, maaaaybe you should consider unfollowing me to clean up your timeline...?

Aaand here are the note stats per month because I've already typed this much so why not just include literally everything in one post

The only thing I can analyze is that the note and post number started to lose correlation due to how much ramble shitpost I have these months.

Okay that's it. I intended to make another art summary for the lineart / unrendered art pieces, but there's just too many to choose from and I don't think you can infer more from these given that the rendered pieces already has lineart in them. Mostly.

[styxxsyringe]

OK so I'm feeling some guilt I started to draw cartoony like you but I get frustrated because it does bot look perfect like yours it's mostly small stuff like colors and clothes I love making cartoony body's sometimes clothing but I have color picking because I'm still new to art that has colors is my feelings normal or is it wrong of me? And how do I pick colors because it frustrated me to no end and made me stop drawing for months anyway in short summary how do I color the right way like I guess I know skin tones but anything else goes wrong and the other summary is how do you draw clothing because I can't for the life of me get clothing right

don't worry - it's normal to get frustrated when drawing. i know i've literally quit and deleted entire illustrations in the past because i didn't like how the colors came out, and i can spend whole hours just choosing base colors TwT i think the important part about learning art is not to rush. i'm seriously flattered you see me as inspiration, but what worked best for me back when i heavily referenced other artists was "mixing" styles together to create a "new" one - so i'd recommend studying and copying multiple artists you like and trying to blend their styles into one if that makes sense! ^^

hating color picking is completely normal when you're first starting out, and even late into art like i said before - i've been making original digital art on ibispaint for about 5 years now, and it's still difficult. but it's easy to make it fun, and the best way to do that imo is to experiment! i'd recommend studying color theory on a larger scale, and understanding how certain colors might look completely different based on where you put them. or maybe make an illustration and color it in a bunch of alternative ways! also, having "bad" or "awful" color skills starting out is OK - i still think my colors suck sometimes even now lol.

anyway, the best way for me to color pick is to just use that color for whatever the OG artist used for their art. let's use alex ahad as an example because i find his art and color use super interesting -

i don't usually color pick, but when i do, i typically start with picking the eye color. then, based off of the eye color, i chose a base color based on the character's color pallete (easier of the eye color is already close to the main color of the character, which for clyde is turquoise).

then, i pick more colors directly from the reference, for stuff like skin. at this point i have a good idea of the colors i want to use and stop color picking from the ref, but there's no shame if you still feel you need to.

after that, based on the colors i picked, i'll color in the rest of the piece. i usually end up changing the colors that i did take from the reference due to experimenting - for me, i just use color picking as a sort of stepping stone for when i'm not sure how to color a piece the exact way i want.

eventually, you can learn to color pick by eye rather than with the picking tool in your art program, tho that takes a lot of knowledge on color theory.

really there is no "right" way to color, especially for skin imo - don't limit yourself to just peach, tan and brown. clyde's skin is bright white, but i still used a yellowy color here because it was relative to the other colors in the piece. i've also used "alien" tones for human-toned characters in the past before!

and about clothing folds - i can make a full post on that if anybody else is interested OuO

[stardustneeko]

As promised, here's the process video for my YGO Rare Pairs Mini Bang piece. I feel like this event always gets me to push myself beyond my limits (or maybe it's Tealshipping ;-P). A lot of attention and care went into this piece, so I want to talk about it a bit.

(Extensive yapping under cut)

As with many of my works, it started with a song. Pretty much the entire aesthetic direction of this piece was inspired by it, specifically this lyrics video.

I started with a thumbnail with pencil on paper because I'm astonishingly near-sighted and can only determine a good composition at a very specific size.

Fun fact: This thumbnail was very likely jotted down on company time :D

Then I traced it onto CSP and started with the values sketch. Since the song/lyrics video provided a very clear vision, I worked out the light sources pretty quickly. Some things I kept in mind:

The elements in this piece should suggest that we are looking at this scene through Johan's eyes. That's why Ryo's eyes are closed, and Johan's seeing a different version of "himself" in the mirror.

Because of this, the lighting scenarios for the outside world and the mirror world are completely different: the outside world is hazy, sensual, the mirror world is stark and eerie. "Yami" Johan has sharper features than "normal" Johan, and he's cast in colder light. The "real" world, on the other hand, would have warmer tones. (I feel like I didn't push this enough tbh).

The main light source comes from windows off-screen. I was very particular about the way it hits Johan's face and cast most of it in shadow. In contrast, l wanted most of Ryo to be in the light. It's kinda unrealistic, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The light from the windows also helps illuminate the background. Specifically it reveals the one piece of furniture necessary to deduce the rest of the story ( ͈ര ̫ര ͈) ⊹`𓈒

There is a rim light from a lamp hidden behind Ryo. This helps sets the characters apart from the dark background and suggest more depth, especially in the areas of darkest shadow.

The process I currently use is one I adapted from kuroshiro's, with a few tweaks. First, I separated the piece into parts, and coloured them on separate layers with their base colours. Then, I added new clipped layers to each part, set to Multiply or Overlay as necessary, and rendered on those layers. This workflow helps me think clearly about what I need to do next, and easily come back to fix mistakes later on. It also allows me to pause at certain points and play with different lighting/colour schemes, just to make sure I like the direction I'm going in. It's a labour-intensive way of working, with a lot of cognitive power expended on pre-planning and layer management, but it's very effective if you like to problem-solve on the fly.

This scar on Johan's neck has a lot of symbolic significance in the story of this piece (read the accompanying fic to find out why), and so does Ryo kissing it. I wanted to make sure the way I posed the characters + arranged the lighting would give it that prominence in the composition. I based it on ref photos of real electrocution wounds. (And that makes the second time I've put marks on Johan's skin for this event lol).

Occasionally, I'd screencap the image and save it on Discord, so that I could look back at it the next day and immediately notice anything major I needed to fix.

Fun fact: In my vision, the light-cast-from-window thing was mandatory, but I'd never drawn anything like that before. Reference photos were helpful for inspo, but I needed to observe how it works directly. So (after much procrastination) I decided to turn off the lights in my room and stood for a good half an hour watching the way the light hit my wall in the dark, brainstorming how to recreate this on CSP.

(The most painful part of this piece might be looking up hotel room interior refs and trying to design a bg that looks legit but not with the muted color schemes that seem to dominate luxury hotels use nowadays).

The mirror frame was one of the last pieces to be added, and then I exported the image and imported it onto a different CSP canvas. I added a layer on top the image to paint over any remaining mistakes . I also added some special effects (such as air-brushing Johan's breath). Lastly, I signed the piece.

Fun fact: The "pressed against the mirror" thing was another big challenge, for which ref photos weren't gonna be enough help because I had such a specific idea with the pose + lighting. One day, while I was wandering in a new bookstore and about to leave, the employee told me "We also have a secret room, would you like to discover it?" and she DEADASS pulled open a bookshelf to reveal a hidden chamber??? And inside were obvs more bookshelves but most importantly there was a large mirror on the wall EXACTLY like I needed. So I spent a good while in there taking reference photos using myself as a model hehehe. Thinking back on this experience now, I become more firmly convinced that the universe arranged things so that I could bring this Tealshipping image to the world. *^w^b

Overall, this piece took me literal months to complete (most of which was spent agonizing over whether I could pull off all of the aforementioned goals). I'm noticing some pretty big mistakes now that I'm looking back at it lol but it felt pretty rewarding to finish it at last. Do you think I managed to achieve my intentions?